Lake Lanier Fishing Report – April 2019

Lanier: Level: 1.7 feet high. Temp: Mid to upper 50s. Clarity: The rivers have a heavy stain, most creeks go from a moderate to a light stain, and the main lake is mostly clear below Highway 369.

Bass: Guide Ryan Coleman reports, “Fishing has been pretty good overall. The cloudy water has slowed the offshore moving bait bite, but there are still some big fish out deep that are being caught on bottom baits. There is a pretty good shallow bite up along the banks and on secondary points. Bottom baits have been the ticket for most people, but there are some guys catching fish up shallow along the grass and shoreline on spinnerbaits and crankbaits. I have mostly been fishing bottom baits like jigs and worms along with dragging a swimbait along the shallow points. The bite along the docks on jig-head worms is starting to gain some steam and should been good by the time this report comes out. Look for places with only a few docks to help locate the fish. With the high water, the fish have tons of choices up shallow, so places where there is limited cover will speed up your search. Also try some of the flooded grass in the backs of pockets for fish getting ready to spawn. A spinnerbait or small swim jig should be good back there as a shallow crankbait. It’s more of a search than ever now with the high water, but the shallow bite should be the ticket over the next month.”

Stripers: Capt. Ron Mullins reports, “The spring striper bite is really getting fired up. Capt. Mack’s Perfect Planer Boards and flatlines will be the technique that will catch the most fish in April. Herring, of any size, and small to medium shad will be your best bait choices this month. Make sure you match your hook size to your bait size. Herring on a No. 2 or No. 1 Gamakatsu Octopus Circle, small shad on a No. 1 or 1/0 and medium gizzards on a 4/0 or 5/0 circle should do the trick. Using a smaller hook will keep your herring and small shad lively longer since they won’t have to lug around a big chunk of steel. Place your bait 50 to 100 feet out, clip on your Perfect Planer and run the first (outside) set 60 feet from the boat. Repeat with the inside planer set 30 feet away from the boat. Flatlines are next straight behind the boat anywhere from 50 to 100 feet, as well. Adjust the lengths and even add a No. 3 split-shot to figure out where the fish want to eat. There are a lot of fish up both river arms, and they should stay up there through April. Northern creeks like Thompson, Taylor, Wahoo, Ada, Gainesville and Little River will all be good places to look, as well. At the first of the month, there will still be fish roaming over deep water in the middle of most creeks, but as the water temps warm into the mid 60s, the fish will move to the 15- to 30-foot points and humps throughout the lake. This will be the start of our topwater artificial bite and time to tie on a Zara Spook, Chug Bug or Gunfish. As you ease around these areas with your live bait spread out the back of the boat, you can make long casts from the front of the boat to these spots and pick up a few extra fish. April is an awesome month on Lanier. Get out there and catch ’em up.”